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Wednesday, July 26, 2017

Frugal July (sort of) part 5

Hello everyone,
we've had a very pleasant but busy summer so far. I'm guessing most of you are just as busy.

A frugal activity with the grands that was a big hit was making "moon dough"

It's very simple. Just stir together any kind of hair conditioner and corn starch until it is a dough consistency. It's just a little trial and error to get it right, for us when the dough was too wet, I sprinkled cornstarch on the table and kneaded the dough in it and that got it just right.
The moon dough molds very easy and is great for cookie cutters.
I like that it is a soft feeling dough and didn't dry out my hands like traditional salt based Play Dough does.
If you have a mess after, the crumbs wipe right up. They don't adhere to the table or floor at all.

Our moon dough is white because I couldn't find any food coloring in my pantry. The grands were shocked as they think I have everything. One of them later told Grandpa to please take Grandma to a store that sells food coloring.
And yes, I have since bought a box of food coloring.

I only did one deal at CVS a couple weeks ago

3 boxes of trash bags, 1 toothpaste and 8 bags of snacks - after coupons was $14.65
I paid with a gift certificate earned from Swagbucks and got back $5 ExtraCareBucks.

I have been pretty faithful about working on the 100 Day Sewing Challenge fromaworkingpantry.blogspot.com
Below is list of the what I worked on each day I sewed.

One completed project was this floor length summer dress for the oldest granddaughter.

I used a pattern from my stash and just lengthened the skirt. The fabric is a batik with seashells on it and was in a tub of fabric my dad bought at a yard sale a few years ago.

I also made this top for me to wear to an upcoming Luau birthday party for our 2 youngest grands. They turned 1 and 2 in July. This is called a Rhapsody top and the pattern is from LoveNotions.com

The fabric was from my stash and something someone gave me a while back.

This a shopping deal from our recent military commissary trip.

The commissaries have a reward card that is just coupons. You can only use each coupon once but its easy as there are no paper coupons to deal with. The Tide had a $5 coupon ($7.99 minus $5)
The Downy was $4.34 minus a $2 coupon.
Then I got back $2 for them from a reward app called SavingsStar.
I know most of my readers are not military but many stores are offering these electronic coupons now. I told you about using them at Dollar General and CVS has them now too.
If your stores in your area offer E-Coupons, it may be worth your time to check them out.

My son got this really nice treadmill for me a few months ago and I've been trying to walk at least an hour every morning.

This room is supposed to be a bedroom but we keep all the grands clothes and toys in here, with some stockpile items and the treadmill. One of the perks of being empty-nesters is being able to use spaces in the home however it suits us.

There is nothing frugal about the next topic - Lice
Lice showed up on some of the grands but its
a mystery as to where they originated as none of the grands are in school right now.
It was all new to us and after a couple of missteps, with products that don't work, we found a solution. Using a really good nit comb is key. All the live bugs and eggs have to be removed.
If you've never dealt with lice, they are no fun. But if you have children in your life, you might want to do some research *just in case* you ever have to fight lice.
This Fairy Tales brand kit comes with a really good lice comb as well as some removers. It can be bought at Ulta and Amazon. This kit is a back up that I'm keeping on hand, just in case its ever needed again. Fairy Tales worked for us and it has excellent reviews on both Ulta and Amazon.
There are other products and methods that fight lice, this is just what worked for us.

Some surprising lice facts are they don't jump or fly, they just crawl from victim to victim.
Surfaces do need to be cleaned but lice don't live on surfaces very long.
I learned from a second cousin whose children also had lice that there are professional companies that do lice removal. She said the company did lots of nit combing and the children slept with olive oil saturated hair that was wrapped up for several nights.

I hope none of you ever have to deal with lice - eww- but it's good to know facts and what you're fighting if you ever do need to

20 comments:

Eww...lice...we had to deal with it during the school year. Megan and two other girls were sent home. It was a real pain! Thankfully it was caught early for Megan and she went back to school the next day. The two other girls were sent home multiple times after that and one girl missed three weeks of school getting rid of it. Yuck, yuck, yuck!

That was a good deal on the laundry detergent and fabric softner. It hasn't been a very frugal summer around here. I'm hope that will change in next couple of weeks.

Busy Summer for sure. The spare room looks nice with treadmill and shelves with groceries. Count yourself blessed. Looks great. Your Grands are beautiful! As for head lice, my children had them twice and neither time was fun...much work involved. We survived, but it was the pitts. Once we had just relocated to another state and once again I was in the unpacking mode. Had to put all the stuffed toys in trash bags to kill the critters' eggs. Special shampoo was the trick. My daughter's hair was very long at the time so tugging at the eggs took some time. Lots of extra work. All the best to you,d

TFS the moon dough recipe. Love the dress and cute top---extra nice it was from your stash! Doing GREAT on the sewing days! I was at the beauty shop tonight for a color (got a perm--will do color next week now) and another lady was in there talking about lice. My hair dresser said she was somewhere and they were saying that tea tree shampoo is suppose to help keep lice at bay that they don't like the smell of it.

The moon dough looks like fun, my grands would love it. I saw lots of cases of lice during my years of teaching. Luckily I escaped having lice. One year during when softball seasoned started several 3rd grade girls got lice from sharing batting helments. I know it's a pain, cleaning bedding, pillows and putting stuffed toys in a bag for several days.Hope the lice stay away from you kiddos for good.Smiles,Carol

Thanks for the recipe for moon dough -we will have to give a try. You got some great deals. I remember dealing with head lice when the girls were little. I don't ever think I will forget. They got it from a girl in the Sunday School class. I thought I was going to have to cut their long hair but we finally got rid of it. I think the treatments are working as well as they use to. I'm glad you got a hold of it.

Ugh! Lice! Been there/done that when youngest was in 2nd grade - she is going into sophomore year of high school now. Diligent daily combing/nit picking is the key to success! Also checking EVERYONE IN THE HOUSE! We washed sheets/pillow cases daily and bagged the girls stuffed animals for a month too.

We've been down that road before and it makes me itch just hearing about it. Glad you found a good product that works. For me the worst part is all the laundry you have to do to prevent a reinfestation. We keep a kit on hand too, just in case.

You got some great deals and I just love your hawaiin top and the maxi dress for your granddaughter. My kids had lice when they were little. I couldn't imagine where they had picked it up as there were no daycares or school involvement. My dr. asked had we been to the movies and bingo! we had! She said that was a common place for kids to contract lice. ewwww!

:::scratch, scratch, scratch::: Isn't it funny how just the mention of it makes me scratch my head lol?! You know, I have no idea how I have managed to dodge the little beasts my whole life. Never got them in school or still haven't as an adult. They seem much more common now, but I understand they're a breeze compared to bed bugs. Several of my friends have had their kids/grands come home from camp or the dorms bringing some leetle friends...yuk!

I love the clothes you made! My mom used to always make me the cutest dresses...until I got too hoity toity to wear handmade clothes. Sheesh, what a dork I was!

Rhonda, those clothes are just beautiful!!! Boy did you save yourself a bundle not having to buy them. Lice, yep the movie theaters are a prime haven for the little buggers. You can get yourself a black light flash light to check for them. You need to get in a very dark room, bathroom without a window, and they will glow if you have any. You can also wash your hair in peppermint castile soap, dries them out and repels, then finish with a diluted apple cider rinse. Everything in your home can also be washed with the castile. When night hits and it's dark inside your home use that flash light, you'll be amazed at what you might find. The light isn't expensive, also great for bed bugs, mice detection, spiders........

That moondough looks so cool! I can remember making Playdough for my kids when they were little, but this looks better and "cleaner". Like you said, no salt to deal with. An idea...how about using packets of powdered Kool-Aid to color the dough and add a little scent? I used to do that with the Playdough. So sorry you guys had lice to deal with. That's one thing that my kids never had.

You sure are talented with your sewing. I'm sure your granddaughter will love her new dress. And an hour on the treadmill most every morning? Wow! Go, you!

With ten grandchildren I am most happy to hear what worked for your lot. All but three of ours are in school and one of those three attends Sunday school and has play dates with a family that has older children, so it's good info to have on hand just in case. I love how you are using that spare room. I am using my guest room closet. In an ideal home I'd have more room for stockpiling but this is our home and we're using it as we need to, just as you are doing.

Loved reading through your frugal July.My daughter caught lice in grade 3 from a friend who sadly had them frequently. What an unpleasant experience that is. Goid thing there are so many products on the market these days.